Shining light on a beacon

One of the university’s most valuable resources will no longer be after tomorrow.

For the greater part of three years, Scott Hazan has stood as a beacon to students on campus who needed advice, help, or just someone to speak with.

As a student leader for five semesters, I have gone to Scott for countless reasons – some more significant than others – and one thing has always remained a constant, he never closed his door on me or said he did not have the time.

Anyone who knows me knows that I could be hot headed at times, may not think things through at other times, and may not be the easiest person to work with at still additional situations. Through it all, Scott has never been anything but supportive. Although there have been numerous times where we viewed the same situation differently, he would always try to help me and get me to view things in a different perspective.

For my first three semesters as editor of The Chronicle, Scott was the student center liaison to the university’s media organizations. That meant he and I had to work extensively together. Hardly a day went by where we had not chatted for a least a few minutes and made sure we were on the same page. I even had the opportunity to travel with Scott to Dallas and Nashville for media

conferences.

It has been said that one does not appreciate something until it is gone. I hope that Scott knows my extremely high appreciation for everything he has done for The Chronicle, the media organizations, the university, and, most importantly, for me. The Chronicle would certainly not be nearly as successful as it has been if not for his continuous support.

Scott moved across the hall in July and with the physical transition came the professional transition from liaison to media organizations to liaison to university programming.

Despite the fact he no longer had to advise neither The Chronicle nor me, he continuously chose to for his entire stint in his new role. This speaks volumes of his dedication to, not only his job, but the students that he has served since accepting his position at Quinnipiac University.

Despite the fact Scott had not been my advisor since July 1, one would not know this by his interaction with me over the past semester and a half. In that time, there was no considerable change in the amount of time he dedicated to advising the newspaper. Although he never wavered from protecting the integrity of the university and his job by giving me any information that wasn’t available to me in regards to stories, he was always there. Even though he has not been paid to work with me for seven months now, that has not changed anything.

In some respects, I have needed Scott more now than I had ever before. He is the type of guy who I was able to go into his office and ramble on about my courses, my drive in or a Chronicle issue I couldn’t figure out and needed a different perspective on. He is also the type of guy who would stop in every morning or afternoon, at least once, in the newspaper office to see how things were with the paper and with the people behind the paper. However, Scott is not the kind of guy to say that I am always right either. He has had no problem telling me when I was wrong, something that many people don’t do. All of this has made Scott an invaluable resource to me and the university as a whole.

I will miss Scott a lot. On a professional level, I will miss his constant advice and business perspective on things. I will miss his means of making me view things differently than I otherwise had.

On a personal level, I will miss Scott as an individual who has always been there for me. On a bad day, he would change his schedule around to make sure that I was OK. On a good day, he would celebrate life’s little accomplishments with me. I never really had a father in my life and for the first real time at Quinnipiac; Scott sort of filled that void. He would yell at me when my tie was too long, or point out when my shirt was three sizes too big, or remind me to comb my hair. Indeed Scott was much more than an employee of Quinnipiac University. He was a shining jewel and I speak for the entire Chronicle staff when I say it will certainly not be the same without him.